The present invention relates to assemblies of packaged or containerized belts or other band-shaped articles, as well as to a method for packaging such assemblies. The invention more particularly pertains to a method for packaging band-shaped articles including belts in a pliable container which substantially eliminates twisting, crimping and tangling of such articles, even when several hundred or more are packaged within a single such package.
Band-shaped articles, including industrial and automotive belts and belting, rubber bands, looped lengths of hose or tubing, o-rings, etc., are frequently packaged together in large number for shipment and/or storage. In such cases, it is frequently desirable that such articles not become entangled with one another, so that further handling is not required and the articles' integrity is not compromised.
Industrial and automotive belts and belting, including synchronous or toothed belts, V-shaped belts, multi-V-ribbed belts and flat belting, are frequently packaged in bags for storage or for shipment from, e.g., a belt manufacturer to a customer's assembly or sales site. Depending in part on the type of belt and its intended application, it is not uncommon for dozens or even several hundred of such belts to be bundled together in a single package. The belts are commonly placed loosely within a sealed or unsealed polypropylene bag, which is then typically placed within a suitably sized and shaped paperboard box for shipment and/or storage without further restraining means.
A problem arises in the packaging of such industrial and/or automotive belts and other band-shaped articles packaged in this manner. Particularly when large numbers of belts, e.g., a hundred or more, are bundled together within a single package, the nature of the bag system frequently results in entanglement of one belt with another, since the belts are not prevented or restrained from shifting or otherwise moving about within the bag.
Such belts and other band-shaped articles may moreover include one or more reinforcement cords which may be wrapped on or about the articles in a helical configuration or other form as is well known in the relevant art. Such reinforcement tends to force the belt at rest to twist upon itself in a "figure-eight"-type configuration. When a number of such belts are packaged together in a single container and twist upon themselves in this manner, they frequently take on a permanent set, i.e., a deformation which does not disappear when the external force which caused it is removed. Such permanent set in an elastomeric belt may lead to premature belt failure. The belts packaged according to this method may moreover become crimped due to the weight placed upon them while in this twisted configuration by the other belts. Such crimping may also lead to premature belt failure.
Attempts at improving belt packaging techniques and similar techniques for other band-shaped articles have not been completely successful. One such attempt involves the use of a compartmentalized paperboard box in lieu of the aforementioned plastic bag. According to this method, the belts are laid in the box and are held by the compartment walls in a certain configuration which prevents the belts from twisting upon themselves. For some applications however, this method may prove unsatisfactory in that dust from the paperboard box may fall onto the belts. For these applications, such assemblies may require the additional labor step and concomitant cost of removing the dust from the belts prior to further use. Moreover, this method involves the additional labor steps of assembling the individual compartments within each box. This may be unfavorable in manufacturing settings where production rates are generally of interest.
Thus it would be advantageous to develop an assembly of packaged band-shaped articles, including industrial- or automotive belts such as power transmission belts, which is easily and inexpensively constructed and which is not marked by the pronounced deposition of dust or other extraneous debris on the contents.
It would moreover be advantageous to develop such assembly in which the packaged contents would experience a reduced incidence of entanglement, twisting, undesirable permanent set and/or crimping.
It would furthermore be desirable to develop a process for forming such assemblies of packaged band-shaped articles which would reduce entanglement of such articles compared to prior art methods.
It would also be desirable to develop such a process for packaging band-shaped articles such as belts and belting for storage and/or shipment, which process would be simple, would substantially reduce belt tangling and crimping while in the package compared to prior art methods, and which would reduce the incidence of undesirable permanent set in belts and other articles packaged in this manner.
It would moreover be desirable to develop such a method which would reduce the possibility of contamination by dust or other extraneous matter on the surface of the articles packaged according to such method.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to provide an assembly comprising a plurality of band-shaped articles, such as belts, which maintains the articles within a generally fixed alignment with respect to one another, and, in a preferred embodiment, which substantially eliminates twisting and the concomitant tangling and crimping of such goods while in the package, and thereby substantially reduces the incidence of undesirable permanent set of the articles due to such activity.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such an assembly which exhibits significantly reduced incidence of dust- or other extraneous matter deposition onto the surface of the goods contained therein.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a process for forming the above-noted assemblies.